


claw your way into my heart

by fullsunlet



Series: Christmas Christmas Time is Here [10]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, Mark is Bad at Flirting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:46:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22130500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fullsunlet/pseuds/fullsunlet
Summary: Mark was a professional claw-machine catcher, not a professional flirt. Donghyuck thought otherwise.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Series: Christmas Christmas Time is Here [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1579702
Comments: 21
Kudos: 213





	claw your way into my heart

**Author's Note:**

> \- shoutout to that guy who gave me a toy and then ran off, inspiring this fic  
> \- forgive everything i've written because i'm sick *coughs*

“Cinnamoroll,” Donghyuck cried when the claw dropped the white plushie back into the pit of other Cinnamorolls.

“Give up,” Renjun said from beside him, a bag in hand with a Pikachu in it. “You’re bad at this. Just give up.”

Putting another coin in the machine, Donghyuck glared at Renjun before shifting the claw, bending down slightly to check if it was in the right position to pick the toy up. If Renjun could do it, there was no way that Donghyuck couldn’t. They both had been on a failing streak until a minute ago when Renjun succeeded at catching a Pikachu at his claw machine (after too many coins lost). Meanwhile, Donghyuck continued struggling with picking up the white plushie. It wasn’t so much that he wanted a Cinnamoroll anymore than wanting to show that he could catch a plushie too.

As soon as Donghyuck pushed the button for lowering the claw, he clasped his hands together, silently praying that he was going to get it. Next to him, Renjun was scoffing already and Donghyuck was about to scold Renjun for being so negative when the claw once again, released his Cinnamoroll.

Letting out a sob, Donghyuck hit the machine lightly with a fist before hitting Renjun’s shoulder much to the other’s chagrin.

“I can help you,” a voice said from behind Donghyuck. 

Spinning around, Donghyuck felt his jaw drop when he saw the various plastic bags in the stranger’s hand. Two Pikachus, one Eevee, a Snorlax, and two Pompompurins of different sizes. _And_ the Cinnamoroll that Donghyuck had been trying to get since over an hour ago.

Gesturing to the bags, Donghyuck smiled at the stranger. “You’re good,” he complimented, fluttering his eyelashes while Renjun faked a gag.

“If you want…” the boy added on belatedly, scratching the side of his head.

Stretching a hand out, Donghyuck smiled at the stranger. “Donghyuck,” he introduced himself. It was better get acquainted quickly if this claw machine expert was going to help him catch a Cinnamoroll or two.

“Mark,” the other boy replied as he took Donghyuck’s hand. Laughing awkwardly, he walked towards the Cinnamoroll machine and dumped his bags in front of it. “I come here a lot.”

“Evidently,” Renjun remarked, making Mark grin sheepishly while Donghyuck elbowed his friend in the stomach, telling him, _don’t be rude_.

After putting a coin into the machine, Mark began explaining his technique. “It’s not so much about catching the whole toy because it’s way too heavy for the claw.” He stopped shifting the claw as he pointed to the carrot in Cinnamoroll’s paws, drawing Donghyuck’s attention to it. “You see that small gap there? Try aiming the claw towards it so that Cinnamoroll will hang onto the claw by the carrot.”

Donghyuck had a rough idea what Mark was trying to say, though it was definitely easier said than done. Especially when Renjun probably only managed to get his Pikachu because the claw strengthened after multiple tries and picked Pikachu up before directly dropping it into the chute. There was no skill or technicality there, only patience and a lot of money wasted.

“It worked for me,” Mark announced happily as he pushed the button to lower the claw. One of the three claws almost slid in the space between the carrot and Cinnamoroll’s hands but it narrowly missed the spot, catching onto plain air instead. Right then, Mark’s face paled. “I succeeded at my first try,” he said as he pointed to the plastic bag which had a Cinnamoroll in it. “But sometimes, you have to try a few times,” he reasoned, slotting another coin into the machine.

Nodding, Donghyuck stood closer to Mark, watching as the other moved the claw. “I totally understand.”

“Same,” Renjun agreed, tone dry, successfully avoiding Donghyuck’s elbow this time.

When the claw lowered again, Donghyuck already knew the outcome. It was way off its mark and he could tell that Mark knew too as he shifted uncomfortably.

Mark inserted another coin and Donghyuck’s eyes widened, wondering if Mark was seriously wasting his money on someone he just met to prove that he was a claw machine expert?

“The claw seems shakier than before,” Mark commented and Donghyuck nodded in response, although he had absolutely no idea what Mark meant by that. “It happens sometimes.”

When the claw failed to pick Cinnamoroll up for the nth time, Mark made a small dying noise and Donghyuck was beginning to feel bad for him.

Tentatively, he placed a hand on Mark’s arm, causing the other to whip his head towards him. “It’s fine. You don’t have to help me get it to prove that you’re a master at this. I know that you are.” He gestures to the plastic bags on the floor. “That was a lot of money and I feel bad.”

Quickly shaking his head, Mark assured Donghyuck, “It’s fine! I wanted to catch it for you. You really wanted it, didn’t you?” he asked, sounding sadder than Donghyuck about the situation.

Looking at Renjun unsurely, Donghyuck rolled his eyes when his friend merely shrugged. “I guess?”

Hands reaching for the plastic bag that Cinnamoroll was in, Mark shoved it into Donghyuck’s hands. “You can have it,” Mark spluttered.

Donghyuck stared back at Mark, trying to register Mark’s words because was this stranger really giving him the plushie for free?

Yes.

Before Donghyuck could say anything, he found himself with a handful of Cinnamoroll and Mark squeaking _please just take it_. He looked down at the white puppy now in his arms before looking at Mark again. “Thank you?”

“You’re welcome,” Mark forced out before waving at Donghyuck awkwardly, then grabbing his other bags and quickly walked out of the arcade.

Looking down at the Cinnamoroll plushie in his hand, Donghyuck tried to comprehend what had just happened. “Did he really spend so much money trying to catch it for me to show off that he’s an expert only to give me his own one in the end? I can’t believe it.” Donghyuck raised the Cinnamoroll higher as he stared at it with wonder.

“He was trying to impress you, you fool,” Renjun said once Mark was out of sight.

 _Oh_.

“I’m impressed,” Donghyuck admitted, nodding to the Ciannamoroll in his hand.

*

“Johnny, Johnny, Johnny,” Mark called out in rapid succession the moment Johnny stepped out of the radio booth.

“Mark, Mark, Mark,” came Johnny’s reply, an amused quirk of his eyebrow and a small smile on his face as he regarded the younger boy. “What brings you all the way to the station?”

“Hey, Mark,” Jaehyun said cheerily from behind Johnny.

Grimacing, Johnny waved a dismissive hand at Jaehyun as he told Mark, “Ignore him. He’s in a good mood and it’s disgusting.”

Usually, Mark listened to Johnny but with the way Jaehyun was smiling at him so sincerely made Mark give a little wave and a simple, “Hi, Jaehyun.” Then he looked at Johnny with a frown. “What’s wrong with him being happy?”

Tutting, Johnny shook his head before slinging and arm around Mark’s shoulder and guiding him down the corridor. “The question is _why_ is he so happy?”

Before Mark could ask the question, Jaehyun was already explaining. “I got a date.”

“That’s all?” Mark couldn’t relate, wincing when he had a brief flashback of failing to impress Donghyuck at the arcade.

Scoffing, Johnny turned a corner, pulling Mark along with him as Jaehyun continued following behind. “The boy he met last week at the LP record store wrote in a story about meeting Jaehyun, except he didn’t know it was Jaehyun, and how much he wanted to meet him again. Our resident lover boy here, told him to go back to the same LP record store on the same day at the same time to wait because,” Johnny cleared his throat to make his pitch higher in a poor attempt at imitating Jaehyun since the other was practically a baritone, “ _Who knows? Maybe Prince Charming might turn up again!”_.

Frowning, Jaehyun shook his head. “I did not say that. I only told him to head back because the stranger might need to purchase the LP record he hadn’t managed to get the other day.”

“That makes so much sense,” Mark said in awe as Jaehyun grinned before slinging an arm around Mark’s shoulder from the other side.

“What advice do you need?” Jaehyun asked, smiling at Mark knowingly as the younger boy sputtered, face heating up slightly. “Who’s the boy?”

“Donghyuck…” Mark muttered. “I met him at an arcade. He was trying out a claw machine and you know how good I am at that.”

Nodding in agreement, Johnny flashed Mark a smile, proud of his cousin. “So you caught a toy for him?”

Choking back a sob, Mark shook his head. “I tried to.” Rubbing his cheek with a hand, Mark sighed. “He was standing at the Cinnamoroll claw machine for ever while his friend made snide remarks beside him. And I managed to catch that same Cinnamoroll easily before so I thought why not help him, right? But then I just kept on failing because I was so nervous.”

Brows furrowed seriously, Johnny asked, “So what happened next?”

The thought of what had happened next was enough to make Mark groan in misery. “I shoved the toy I had already caught into his hands as I practically begged him to take it and then I sort of ran away.” Hand falling to his side, Mark gave both Johnny and Jaehyun a pitiful look. “I was just trying to impress him.”

Patting Mark’s shoulder, Jaehyun nodded at him sympathetically. “Luckily for you, we’re good love advisers. It’s practically our job.”

Mark didn’t want to correct Jaehyun, tell them that they were radio DJs and not love gurus but he kind of really wanted their help and honestly, their advice wasn’t bad at all. They weren’t bad most of the time anyway.

“Jaehyun should help you. Since he ran away from his boy too,” Johnny pointed out with a laugh, laughing even harder when Jaehyun tried to hit him as he used Mark as a shield.

“Well, I’m going back to the LP record store because I told him to and I do have to get that LP that I wasn’t able to buy,” Jaehyun said calmly.

Mind processing Jaehyun’s words, Mark nodded to himself as he reached one conclusion. “So I should head back to the same claw machine place?”

Snapping his fingers, Jaehyun pointed at Mark with a large grin on his face. “Exactly!”

Feeling like he had cracked a code, Mark smiled at Jaehyun, excited at the prospect of meeting Donghyuck again. “On the same day and at the same time?”

Laughing heartily, Jaehyun patted Mark’s back as he nodded.

Rubbing his face, Johnny muttered, “Idiots.” But he didn’t want to rain on Mark’s parade by telling him that their two situations were entirely different. He also didn’t want to upset Jaehyun by telling him that it was a lucky coincidence that his boy happened to listen to their radio show.

Seeing how happy his cousin and Jaehyun were, Johnny had no other choice but to give them his blessings.

“It will work this time, right?” Mark turned to Johnny, eyes full of hope.

“Yeah.” Johnny ruffled Mark’s hair. “Go catch all the Cinnamorolls for him.”

*

Johnny wasn’t wrong. Mark was an idiot.

That was how he found himself in the same arcade place he had met Donghyuck a week ago. The first machine he headed to was, naturally the Cinnamoroll one. But he stopped halfway, changing his direction to a random machine as he reasoned with himself that Donghyuck already had a Cinnamoroll - Mark’s Cinnamoroll but a Cinnamoroll nonetheless, and wouldn’t need another one.

Maybe the Pokemon machines, Mark thought as he remembered Donghyuck’s friend holding a bag with Pikachu in it.

“Fancy seeing you here again. You really do come here often.”

It wasn’t Donghyuck, and Mark was a tad bit (extremely) disappointed when he spun around and came face to face with Renjun. His disappointment must have shown on his face as Renjun smiled wryly at him.

“You don’t have to look so disappointed,” Renjun scoffed as he crossed his arms, staring back at Mark with unconcealed disdain.

Shaking his head, Mark was quick to reassure Renjun that he wasn’t unhappy to see the other. Running his fingers through his hair, Mark sighed. “I just thought that Donghyuck might be here too.”

“He’s coming later,” Renjun informed with a small smile on his face. “Maybe you want to catch a toy or two now in case you fail at helping him again.”

Mark didn’t want to prove Renjun right, that he turned up in hopes of meeting Donghyuck again and actually succeed at impressing him this time. Mark didn’t want to prove Renjun right, not with the way the other was grinning at him all-knowingly. And Mark most definitely didn’t want to prove Renjun right that he was too nervous and was afraid of messing up again.

Yet, he still found himself asking, “What other characters does Donghyuck like?”

“Rascal’s always a safe choice.”

That was how Mark found himself walking to the claw machine where the raccoon was, Renjun failing behind him.

“Let’s see if you’re really good at this,” Renjun mused as Mark inserted a coin.

He _was_ good at it and he definitely wanted to show Renjun that he _could_ catch the toy. But he also didn’t want to jinx himself.

Watching the claw intently, Mark shifted it a few times. When he was confident about its position, he pushed the button to lower it, smiling proudly to himself when one of the three claws slipped into Rascal’s arm, picking it up as it dangled all the way to the chute and released it inside.

“Impressive,” Renjun marvelled though it sounded a little mocking. “You want to try catching Stitch too?” Renjun pointed to another machine. “It’s chaotic, like Donghyuck.”

Mark couldn’t disagree with that because he didn’t know Donghyuck. Although if Donghyuck was really as chaotic as Stitch like Renjun said he was, then Mark felt like he should be afraid of what he was getting himself into.

He went to the claw machine where Stitch was anyway, with Renjun standing next to him. Again, he succeeded on the first try, sighing as he wondered why he had failed so many times the other day.

“Wow, you really are good at this.”

Before Mark could open the chute to take Stitch out, he turned around and couldn’t help the way his mouth spread into a wide smile when he saw Donghyuck. “I’m okay,” he muttered as he took Stitch out and bagged it before stretching his hand out for Donghyuck to take it.

Donghyuck accepted the bag, preening at Mark. “Thank you.”

Shyly, Donghyuck lowered his head, then tentatively raised his eyes to sneak a glance at Mark while Mark was doing his best to avoid Donghyuck’s gaze.

“This is so painful to watch,” Renjun barked, breaking the spell between them. “You,” he jutted his index finger at Mark, “Might be a professional claw-machine catcher, but you really have zero sense at flirting, don’t you? Just ask him out for goodness sake!”

“Yes,” Donghyuck said before Mark even opened his mouth. “Yes, I’ll go on a date with you.”

Renjun choked then, covering up a word that sounded strangely like _desperate_.

“Seven PM tomorrow at the cafe down the street?” Mark asked as he fiddled with his fingers, unsure that Donghyuck would agree but the other was nodding eagerly, bringing a smile to Mark’s face.

Then, Donghyuck pointed at the bag housing Rascal in Mark’s other hand. “Is that for me too?” he asked, blinking innocently at Mark.

“Yes. Yes! Of course,” Mark said, stretching out his hand to pass Rascal over to Donghyuck while Renjun groaned, outrightly calling Donghyuck _shameless_ who accepted it with a large smile on his face.

**Author's Note:**

> [twt](https://twitter.com/fullsunlet)
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated!


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